BY PAM LOBLEY
A Congressman from South Jersey, Frank LoBiondo (R), has been criticizing President Obama’s handling of the sequester and its spending cuts. In particular, Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), who is the chairman of the House Aviation subcommittee, points out that the long lines at airports that Obama predicted have not come to pass.
That’s true. The lines are long because you have to take off your shoes, belt, jewelry, watches, hats, gloves, coats and scarf and then get scanned down to your skin – not because of sequester cuts.
LoBiondo says that Obama told the Federal Aviation Administration NOT to prepare for the sequester. He says that the administration specifically advised the FAA to do nothing, and then spent a couple of months freaking out the public by talking about how dire conditions at airports will be, and avowing that tower closings and employee furloughs will make passengers delayed and miserable.
Wait … more delayed and miserable than usual?
In fact, says LoBiondo, if the FAA had been advised to prepare, the sequester cuts would have been assimilated into operations much more easily. Though no cuts have been felt so far, as of April 21, furloughs for air traffic controllers will begin.
Looks like they picked a bad day to give up federal funding.
I know! If they need to save money – how about lose the TSA? Then we can keep our shoes on, and bring our own shampoo on the flight.
LoBiondo spoke with CBS New York and said “this is the administration making sure that their prediction of some pain will come true because it doesn’t make sense out of almost $10 billion in an operating budget that they couldn’t find $485 million in some kind of deferred payments to avoid the furloughs.” He added “It certainly can get worse if the administration wants it to.”
We are heading into vacation season. The government and the FAA better come to sort of beneficial agreement. They just want travelers to suffer because they can’t get their act together? Surely, they can’t be serious.
I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley.
http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/commentary/new-jersey-congressman-blasts-obama-for-sequester-bungle